A time many Boston College students thought they would never see has finally arrived. After years of false starts and broken hearts, printers were installed on the second floor of Corcoran Commons on Sept. 2, and are now available to students—that is, when they are not jammed. The printers are part of a pilot program that will study how often the printers in Corcoran Commons are used in order to determine if printers should be removed from O’Neill Library and permanently installed in Corcoran Commons and McElroy Commons. Printers will remain in Corcoran Commons only if they are consistently used and prove to be better located than current printers. Hopefully, this pilot program will prove successful and lead to a better printing system for students.
The Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) deserves commendation for bringing this about. After many challenges that didn’t produce the amount of tangible changes many had hoped for, this installation marks a success for UGBC that will benefit students across campus.
Much of the work that led up to this was done by former UGBC leaders, who have been calling for printers in Corcoran Commons for a decade. After Thomas Napoli, former UGBC president and BC ’16, and Olivia Hussey, former EVP and MCAS ’17, advocated for the installation of the printers last year, there was an extended waiting period as the printers were purchased but not installed. Delays lasted months as electrical outlets, wireless internet routers, zoning laws, and bureaucracy pushed the installation date further and further into the future. This process was marred not only by excessive delays and a crawling pace, but also by a lack of transparency. Many students were unaware of what was preventing this seemingly simple project from completion, leaving many confused and incorrectly blaming members of the student government. In the future, endeavours such as this, undertaken cooperatively by UGBC and the administration, should be more transparent to the student body. Despite these negative aspects, the installation still marks a positive step for UGBC, as it continues to advocate for changes in policy and more tangible projects.
UGBC President Russell Simons and Executive Vice President Meredith McCaffrey, both MCAS ’17, who were involved in UGBC during the attempts to install these printers, will hopefully continue to produce tangible results. The success of installing printers in Corcoran Commons stands as an example of both positive and negative aspects of the process. In the upcoming year, UGBC should strive to imitate the eventual success that came from advocating for printers, while also trying to avoid the bureaucratic delays and lack of transparency that harmed the process.
Featured Image by Francisco Ruela / Heights Editor
